Expected Student Contribution

Expected Student Contribution is an element of the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Generally, parents are expected to contribute about 6 percent of their savings to fund their child's education. Students, however, are expected to contribute about 35 percent of their savings to meet college costs. This disparity is because parents have more obligations - a home to maintain, other family members to support, etc. - while students are viewed as able to contribute a much larger portion of their assets to their education.